Engine mount



March 4, 1952 Q J $M|TH ETAL 2,588,171

ENGKNE MOUNT Filld NOV. 29, 1946 I l'lfllll'lllllll 7M /A CHARLES J. SMITH FRED J. THOMS INVENTORS. ain- 1% J By ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 4, 1952 ENGINE MOUNT Charles J. Smith and Fred J. Thoms, Dearborn,

Mich., assignors to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application November 29, 1946, Serial No. 712,746

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to engine mounts, and has particular reference to engine mounts for internal-combustion engines for motor vehicles.

An object of the invention is to provide an engine mount for resiliently mounting an internail-combustion. engine upon a motor vehicle frame and which will accommodate and permit a considerable amount of relative movement between the engine and the frame, but yet which will provide the necessary stability to control the engine movement. Although relatively soft rubber may be used in engine mounts to provide the necessary yieldability, it has been found in many cases that if the rubber is made sufficiently soft to provide the resiliency desired, the engine mount will not stand up during extended use. This disadvantage has been overcome by the present invention, in which coil springs are embedded in rubber blocks to form engine mounts having the desired characteristics so far as resiliency is concerned and also possessing long life and durability by reason of the distribution of stress between the rubber and the springs.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an engine mount and supporting means for arranging the engine mount between engine and frame parts such that the principal oscillation at the mount occurs in a vertical direction while the oscillation in other directions is controlled within necessary limits for stable operation.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, particularly when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an internal-combustion engine supported upon a motor vehicle frame by means of the engine mounts of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the construction shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view through one of the engine mounts and the associated brackets.

Figure 4 is a transverse cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 1, showing the rear steady rest.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view through a modified engine mount.

bers I2 and 13. An internal-combustion engine, shown diagrammatically, is indicated generally by the reference character I4, and carries a transmission housing 16 at its rearward end. Upper and lower suspension links H and 18 independently suspend the front road wheels 19 upon the transverse front cross frame member 12.

In the present instance, the engine I4 is resiliently supported upon the vehicle frame by a pair of side motor mount assemblies 2| and a single rear steady rest assembly 22. Although shown in amounting system in which they are particularly advantageous, the individual engine mounts can also be used to advantage in other locations and with other types of engine mounting arrangements as well. In the drawings, it will be noted that the side engine mount assemblies 2| are disposed on opposite sides of the engine [4 in transverse alignment with each other. and also in transverse alignment with the center of gravity of the entire engine assembly including the transmission, clutch, generator, starting motor, and other auxiliary equipment normally associated with an engine. While theoretically an engine mounted exactly at the point representing the center of gravity of the engine would be the most desirable mounting in so far as insulating the vehicle frame from the vibrations and oscillations of the engine resulting from torque impulses and the like, this is of course physically impossible. The result can, however, be approximated by the arrangement shown in which two mountings are provided, one on each side of the engine, in transverse alignment with the center of gravity. In this connection it should be noted that the rear steady rest assembly 22 is not for the purpose of providing another mounting point for the engine, as in the case of the conventional type of three-point mounting, but is merely for the purpose of providing insurance against possible excessive oscillation of the rear end of the engine without materially interfering with its normal oscillation about the side engine mounts. For this purpose, the rear steady rest assembly comprises a block of relatively soft rubber 23, which is formed with a plurality of holes 24 therethrough to increase its resiliency. The soft rubber block 23 is suitably bonded to upper and lower plates 26 and 21 bolted respectively to the transmission housing 16 and the transverse cross frame member l3.

.The side engine mount' assemblies 21 are identical in construction, except for being reversed, and consequently only. one will be described in detail.- A supporting bracket 28 is bolted to .the

upper portion of the transverse front cross frame member l2 and extends inwardly therefrom terminating in a substantially horizontal flange 29, which is provided with a circular opening 3|. A cup-shaped housing 32 is mounted within the opening 3| and is provided with an outwardly extending upper flange 33 resting upon the horizontal flange 29 of the supporting bracket 28. The cup-shaped'housing also has an inwardly extending lower flange 34. Bonded or Vulcanized within the cup-shaped housing 32 is a rubber block 36 of relatively soft rubber.

During the molding of the rubber block 36, a coil spring 31 is embedded therein. The coil spring 31 is in the form of a volute spring with its lower convolutions having the greatest diameter and resting upon the inwardly turned lower flange 34 of the housing. "Extending vertically through the rubber block 36 is a bore'38 which is enlarged intermediate its ends to form a cavity 39. Adjacent its upper: end the :rubber block 36. is recessed to receive a fiber insert 4| serving asan insulator to prevent metal-to-metal .contact between parts of the assembly, 1 as willbe seen hereinafter.

-It will be apparent from the preceding description that the combined rubber block and 'coil spring engine mount is supported upon the vehicle frame by means of the bracket 28. The mount is, in turn, adapted to support the engine I4 by means of a bracket 42 which has a lower supporting flange 43 secured to the engine block by means of bolts 44. The body of the bracket 42,- which may be a casting, is formed with a pair of vertically spaced horizontally extending flanges 46 and 41 with the upper flange 46 resting upon the fiber insert 4| of the engine mount. A headed bolt 48 extends through the upper flange 46 of the bracket 42 and is threadedly received-at its lower end in the flange 4'! of the bracket.

diameter of the bore 38 formed in the rubber block 36 and extends therethrough. ,Intermediate its ends, thebolt :4-8 is of course spaced from the rubber block 36 by the cavity 39 formed therein.

In an engine mounting arrangement of the .type shown, and in other types as well, the engine mounts must provide a considerabl amount of resiliency to accommodate relative movement becoil-spring, thestress to which eachis subjected is:-material1y less-than in thenormal .type of engine mount.

Although the major portion of the oscillatory motion 'takeszplace in a'generally vertical direction, limitedresiliency in: transverse directions :is :aiforded and is enhanced by-the cavity 39 inthe rubber block which provides .clearance for suchzdistortion. of: the rubber; as, may Stake place 'during suchmovem'ent. .It will further .:be;noted i that thefiberinsert. :completely insulates .:the 'metalscoil spring:131.,.from.ithesupper flange. 46

The. diameter of the bolt 48 corresponds with the' .the cup-shaped housing 5|. formed vertically through the rubber block and of the engine bracket 42, and thus prevents metal-to-metal contact, resulting in a noiseless mounting.

It will be noted from an examination of Figure 1 that the side engine mount assemblies 2|, in addition to being in alignment with the center of gravity, are also in vertical alignment with the axis'joining the two frontwheels l9, so that the weight of the engine is supported directly above the front wheels.

Reference is now made to a modified structure shown in Figure 5, in which for the sake of simplicity the engine bracket and the vertical bolt carried thereby have been omitted. In this modification, the cup-shaped housing 5| is relatively narrow in vertical extent and is molded or vulcanized to the rubber block 52 adjacent an intermediate zone of the latter. The lower flange .53 of the housing extends into the rubber block and forms a support for an intermediate convolution of the coilspring 54 which is molded into the rubber block. It will be noted that both the coilspring 54 andthe rubberblock 52 ..decrease in radial dimension both above-and below An aperture 56 is contains a sleeve 51 adapted to receive a bolt carried by the engine bracket. (not shown). Retaining flanges 58 and 59 are formed at opposite ends of the sleeve 51. In this engine mount, the coil spring 54 co-operates with the rubber block 52 in resiliently supporting the engine upon the frame.

.It will be understood thatthe invention is not to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing "from the spirit andscope of the invention, as

defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An engine mount for resiliently mounting an internal combustion engine upon a motor vehicle .frame, comprising, in combination, supporting ture in said rubber block, said aperture corresponding in diameter to the diameter of said rodadjacent the upper .and lower portions of said rubber block and said aperture being en- .larged. intermediate its ends to provide clearance between said rod and said rubber block.

. CHARLES J. SMITH. -FRED J. THOMS.

REFERENCES CITED The'following references-are of recordin the "file of this patent:

UNITED STATES "PATENTS Number Name Date 1,497,152 Masury'et'al June 10, 1924 2,038,968 Summers 'Apr3128, 1936 2,196,428 Saurer "Apr."9,' 1940 2,439,739 Hussman Apr..l3, 1948 

